Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 155 Feeding the Next Generation with Life and Blood

It was still the same study, the one with piles of books, a table and a map of Palestine.

On the table covered with the map, heavy books were scattered everywhere.

Saladin sat on a cushion nearby, his eyes fixed on the roof, with some unspeakable sorrow in his heart.

It was he who personally sent Afdal to the battlefield and entrusted him to the Blue Wolf Muzaffar.

However, his son died at the hands of Reynald, but the Blue Wolf Muzaffar was still alive and fled back with his main force.

Saladin, such an old man, swallowed a few times and did not blink for a long time. His intense emotions were like a mountain torrent, hitting the dam of reason.

Of course, from the Mamluks who fled back, Saladin learned the true situation on the battlefield and knew that the Blue Wolf Muzaffar could not be blamed for this.

He still wanted to vent his anger without hesitation, just like the sultans in the past.

But Saladin is Saladin after all. He knows that at this juncture, he cannot be harsh on his generals because a big battle is imminent and they have just suffered a new defeat.

If you want to win back the morale of the troops, you must be more generous!
"But, Reynard, blood debt must be repaid with blood..."

"If seven thousand people lose, how many people will be enough? Thirty thousand, forty thousand? Or fifty thousand..."

Saladin's face darkened with a hint of viciousness. It was now 1187, not 1177.

The resources he can mobilize are already twice as much as they were ten years ago.

He has currently gathered nearly 40,000 Syrian troops alone, while the Egyptian troops have not even been mobilized.

Indeed, Saladin was not good at military affairs. He was more accustomed to taking advantage of situations and shaping the general trend.

What is the general trend? Revenge is the general trend! Tens of thousands of troops are the general trend!

"Reynard, if it's a two-front war, how will you handle it?"

Saladin stood up with the help of a waiter and asked someone to bring the letter.

If Saladin had not planned to put all his chips on the line at the beginning, now, after Afdal's death, he had decided to do it regardless of the consequences.

"Let Adil make a move and attack the Kingdom of Jerusalem from Egypt, focusing the attack on the Transjordanian territory and directly besieging the city of Karak."

"As for the northern route..."

Saladin set his sights on the city of Acre.

"How about using the siege of Acre as an opportunity to force Guy to fight a decisive battle with me? Reynald will probably refuse, but Guy won't tolerate it. After all, Acre is Guy's money bag..."

Adil was Saladin's younger brother. Since Saladin went north to unify Syria, he has never returned to Egypt.

Adil had been in power in Egypt for a long time and provided Saladin with a large amount of resources to maintain Saladin's offensive in Syria.

Saladin originally did not want to mobilize Adil, but now Reynald's behavior has completely angered this "King of Victory, Lord of Justice and Faith in the World."

……

Time passed little by little. In the land of Palestine, Reynald's first battle was just the prelude to the war in 1187, and the real show was about to begin.

To the north of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Saladin was mobilizing nearly 40,000 troops, seeking a decisive battle with the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

However, all those disturbances seemed to have nothing to do with Karak, this unusual medieval city.

Reynald's first victory continued Jerusalem's military myth.

This military myth is: The Franks are protected by God and are invincible in battle!
It was this military myth that maintained the arrogance of the Frankish nobles in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The arrogance of the nobles gradually affected the city residents.

Unlike rural areas and manors, urban residents or the petty bourgeoisie often have more polarized attitudes towards war.

"They really look like clowns."

Standing on the city wall of Karak, such vulgar words came out of Gellis's mouth, and next to him was Father Antoine.

They looked into the distance, chatting and discussing from time to time.

"Do you still think Jerusalem will be conquered?"

Although he already regarded Gérice as a prophet, Antoine would often take the initiative to chat with Gérice because they were old friends and Gérice himself was approachable.

"How many times do you think Reynald can win? Or do you really believe that nonsense? Do you think 200 knights are better than Saladin's 7000 troops, this Reynald inequality?"

"The kingdom is now like a desperate gambler. If it loses once, it will lose everything. However, Saladin has almost endless chips!"

Antoine did not continue speaking, for he knew that what Gérice said was true.

In the land of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the number of Franks was less than 200,000. With only a few hundred thousand people, one defeat could wipe out the main forces of the kingdom.

Unless Leonard is truly a man inspired by God, how can he remain undefeated in battle? !
However, the true man of divine revelation was right beside him, and had already predicted the fall of the old Kingdom of Jerusalem. For a moment, Antoine felt only sadness in his heart.

This kind of sadness is quite similar to when Jesus foresaw the destruction of the temple.

[Some people praised the temple, saying that it was adorned with beautiful stones and offerings. Jesus said, "As for all these things you see, the days are coming when there will not be one stone left upon another; they will all be thrown down."]

—Luke 21:5-6
"In this world, there is no immortal country, and no temple that will not be demolished. Only the holy temple in the hearts of people can be passed down from generation to generation..." After Gailis sighed, his eyes suddenly became solemn. In the south of the city, some smoke and dust rose.

His eyesight was much better than that of ordinary people, so before Antoine could react, he realized that it was a large army.

"Stop sitting there, Antoine. Instead of worrying about the fate of Jerusalem, you need to think about your own fate."

……

They really look like clowns.

The citizens, who were originally immersed in the joy of Reynard's victory over the enemy, were speechless when they heard that a large army was coming from the south and was about to besiege the city.

Although most of the residents in the city have experienced war.

But this is a different time. When Karak was besieged, at least the Kingdom of Jerusalem could directly mobilize reinforcements to rescue it.

But now, for those who are in high positions in the city, they know very well that the kingdom’s army is now almost all gathered in the north, and the kingdom’s army’s determination to defend the port of Acre must be stronger than defending the city of Karak!

What does this mean? It means that in the short term, or even in the long term...

The city of Karak could hardly expect any reinforcements to relieve it and was bound to go through an extremely difficult period.

It is one thing to hear that Reynard won the battle, but it is another matter entirely to ask the citizens to defend the city walls themselves!
The former is just for fun, the latter is really deadly!

The wealthy groups in the city have begun to consider how to evacuate Karak Castle, but before they try to transfer their property, Bishop Amade in Karak has already blocked the city gates.

And the Egyptian troops outside the city were about to complete the siege and were making siege equipment!

In Garys' eyes, the atmosphere of the city of Karak was completely different just a few days ago.

In this era, the defense of a city is generally the responsibility of the city itself.

After Reynald led 3,000 troops north, the defense of the Transjordanian territory was quite empty.

In this situation, even Bishop Ame was extremely anxious. He kept preaching in the churches of the city, trying to persuade the citizens to take up arms and go up to the city walls to defend Karak.

Bishop Amedai was the first to speak in the cathedral in the upper town, where he received some cheers and a donation totaling 100 gold dinars.

Bishop Ame was speechless. He had never thought that his gains would be so little.

How many sets of armor can you buy with this little money? !
Bishop Ame went to the parish for artisans in the lower town later. In that parish, he received the most cheers and about 200 volunteers.

200 volunteers... Actually, it's not bad. There are only so many craftsmen in Karak City. Being able to squeeze out so many people is already a great support from everyone.

But this was far from enough. Even if we counted the 150 soldiers in Amedei's hands, there were only 350 people in total! Not enough to defend the entire city wall!
For this purpose, Bishop Ame came to the last parish, which was the church in charge of Father Antoine.

The church that Father Antoine is in charge of is the most dilapidated and smallest.

But even so, the church was packed with people.

Looking at the crowd of people wearing tattered clothes, Acting Bishop Ame was a little hesitant as he seldom had contact with these people.

How long has it been? How long has it been since I last walked into this church?
Every time he approached the edge of the city, he stopped, as if taking one more step forward would mean stepping into hell.

The last time he came to this church, he saw a woman with three children, including a baby, beside the church.

The baby looked dying, and he asked the woman to feed it.

"Give the child some milk."

"My lord, I can't do it."

Amedee asked again to feed the baby, but the woman still refused.

When Amedai got angry, the woman was forced to unbutton her shirt, and her breasts were bleeding.

The baby sucked his mother's blood desperately and hard.

That is using life and blood, cutting off one's own body to feed the next generation...

Amedai fled from here as fast as he could. He didn't dare to look back, for fear of seeing such a scene again, for fear of seeing a similar scene again.

This is completely different from the environment he lives in!

But now, as a person from the upper city, he had to come to the lower city, face those pale and hungry people, and then beg them for help, hoping that the people here could stand up to defend the city.

Even he himself found it ridiculous for a moment.

However, no matter what, he had to mobilize enough people here, otherwise the city wall would be breached if no one was defending it.

"I do not know if you have ever heard the saying: Ah, how can Jerusalem sit alone, all desolate, like a widow? She who was once the Lord of nations is now a slave; her weeping is silent, her eyes are filled with tears, because her enemies have triumphed."

"Now, a choice is placed before you. If we don't want the desolation of Jerusalem to reappear in our city, then every one of us must take up arms, stand on the city walls, and fight against the invading pagans!"

"We share the same fate with this city..."

Bishop Amedai was preaching loudly at the altar, but no matter how emotionally he spoke, how hard he tried, or how wonderfully he uttered words, the people in the audience just looked at him silently.

In this church, Bishop Ame did not receive any cheers.

　第四更，目前还差9月份月票1715、10月份，月票100的加更，但我感觉马上就欠10月份月票200的加更了。因此还是欠三更
　　
　
(End of this chapter)